Discoloration on Capital Culinarian Stainless

RbakerFebruary 9, 2013

I used the back burners on my 48" CC tonight for the first time. The heat left some serious burn marks on the stainless behind the burners. I hit it with some basic cleaning solution and a scrub pad and it didn't touch it. I wanted to get some advice before I broke out the stronger stuff like Bar Keepers Friend. Also, is this going to happen every time I use the stove?

You aren't going to be able to clean that very well, it's been heated to the point that the metal has changed properties. Over heating SS can degrade it's ability to resist rust. I've welded quite a bit of stainless and in the area surrounding the weld it's no longer able to prevent oxidation as it use to and looks a lot like that. I'd be curious to hear what others have to say.

There are countless ranges out there with stainless cooktops ... is this what they can be expected to look like after use? I've never had a stainless cooktop, but if this is true, I don't think I'd want to consider one. I actually thought that stainless would be easier to clean than those porcelain cooktops. Is this not the case, seriously?

There's actually quite a bit of information on the web regarding heating/overheating SS. Here's one snippet:
Concerning the tint that often shows up on surgical stainless steel cookware, we assure you that your cookware is not damaged when it acquires this tint.
The color tint is very common, and is formed when stainless steel is heated, not always, but sometimes over a length of time. The colors are related to the oxidation of the steel. The heat tint or temper color formed is actually a progressive thickening of the surface oxide layer and so, as the temperature is increased over time, the colors usually change. Many experts on surgical stainless steel say that the bluish tint is a tempering of the surface of the steel as a result of overheating, and cannot be removed.

That would not sit well with me either. Perhaps the SS edge is too close to the burner? Maybe it doesn't matter in a commercial application, but when you are spending the big $$ for a capital culinary, it does. I suspect you are like many on this forum who not only buy the Pro style ranges for both utility, but also for looks.

Also, I hat to open up a can of worms.... but perhaps the grade of stainless might be a factor. Any folks with metallurgy acumen care to comment? Do they use 304 ( higher grade) or 430 ( lower grade ) SS to make that trim.

I have attached a photo of my ( uncleaned )13 year old Dacor DRS30 Cooktop. Perhaps one of the "cleanest" tops ever designed. Not one seam on the entire top. It has a beaded SS finish unlike the typical straight line finish. Cleaning is a snap... Bar Keeper Friend or Comet/Ajax makes no difference. The finish is unaffected. IMHO, best cooktop finish and the only finish for me in the future. Dacor nolonger makes it. They onlyu offer their ranges with a baked enamel finish. However, DCS does.... which is what I will be getting.

On a side note, I stopped by a friend's home this weekend who had the Wolf 30" Dual Fuel Range. I think it was around 5 or 6 years old... .the cooktop under the burners. Their enamel cooktop had badly visible scratches everywhere.

If the vinegar and salt approach (that I've never heard of, but seems plausible) doesn't work, then the next step is phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid is the primary ingredient of car body cleaners (MetalPrep type) that are used before priming metal. Auto parts places selling to the body shop trade will have a PPG or DuPont version. Follow all directions, both for dilution and safety.

None the less, no matter how well it is restored, discoloration will reoccur if enough heat is present, so maybe restoration is best done a day before showing off the kitchen. The phosphoric acid odor will linger for a while, depending on your ventilation.

If you've never seen that on your cooking surfaces before, then you've never had the equipment to truly cook at a high heat. All of the professional restaurant ranges look like that. And, hopefully, you bought your range because you want to see restaurant results in your home. If you bought or are considering buying a range more for looks than function, then you should go with something with less BTU's.

I had this happen to my Culinarian when I had my 14" X 23" Chef King Griddle on the left two burners with both burners on high searing some tuna.

I used some Fllitz Metal Polish I had and it did a pretty good job. All of the blue and yellow color is gone but the finish is a little smoother and shinier than the rest of the back-splash. While it is a little different is is a lot better than having the blue and yellow stains.

Same thing happened to us after our first use of our Capital about 5 months ago. At first it annoyed me. I used Bar Keepers Friend and it took it off. After a while, since it returns all the time, I gave up. It's a battle scar.